The legislature took a snow day today and many lawmakers cleared out early Thursday but a Senate committee hearing a bill related to “Obamacare” met into the evening.

The Democrat-controlled committee killed on a party-line vote, a bill that would have repealed the 2011 law setting up the Colorado Health Care Benefits Exchange, legislation sponsored by House Majority Leader Amy Stephens, R-Monument. Creating a health care benefits exchange is one of the key steps for states to implement the federal Affordable Care Act, the 2010 health care reform law opponents call “Obamacare.”

Critics have dubbed Stephens’ bill “Amycare.”

The repeal proposal was sponsored by Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton, and Rep. Marsha Looper, R-Calhan, who took the unusual step of testifying in front of the committee. Critics said that was nothing more than campaigning.

Because of legislative redistricting, Looper and Stephens are now running against each other for the same House seat and are embroiled in a heated primary.

The Associated Press’ Kristen Wyatt has the story:

Colorado Republicans aren’t faring well on their major health care proposals this year.

A Republican bill to repeal Colorado’s health insurance exchange was defeated 5-4 Thursday in a Democrat-controlled Senate committee. The committee is led by the Democratic senator who proposed the exchange last year.

“I’m under no illusion this bill will make it out of Senate chambers,” one of the repeal sponsors, Republican Rep. Marsha Looper, told committee members before they voted.

The same committee last week voted down a Republican idea to seek a federal Medicaid waiver. GOP leaders have said a federal waiver is crucial to trim health care costs. Democrats have called the waiver idea wishful thinking that could hurt the needy if approved.

The health insurance exchange is unpopular with some Republicans because it is a required element of the federal health care law.

The exchange — a marketplace required by the federal health care law — was approved last year with support from Senate Democrats and leading Republicans in the House.

But the House exchange sponsor, House Republican Leader Stephens, has come under withering assault by some in the GOP who argue the exchange is tantamount to embracing the health care law. Looper is challenging Stephens in a GOP primary later this year, so Looper’s sponsorship of the exchange repeal signaled a challenge to Stephens’ idea.

Stephens has insisted the insurance exchange gives Colorado independence from the federal government because the federal government will create exchanges for states that don’t create their own.

Republicans in favor of repeal argued that because Colorado is among the states challenging the health care law, it should wait to set up an exchange until the federal law is settled in court.

The repeal sponsor, Sen. Tim Neville, called the exchange “a hasty response to a set of circumstances that may totally change.”

Democratic Sen. Betty Boyd, sponsor of the exchange and chairwoman of the committee that heard the repeal proposal, argued that repeal opponents were arguing against the federal health care law, not Colorado’s exchange.

“The Colorado exchange is designed to be successful regardless of what happens with the federal government,” Boyd said.

The Health Care Benefits Exchange is a fair and sound concept regardless of any other health care legislation. Bravo to Majority Leader Stephes for sponsoring important legislation even though it had the hint of Obama on it…

Obamacare comes easily in with Amycare. That’s why they spoke of Obamacare. Both are unconstitutional.

Anonymous

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Davidjohnson813

Our kids who are failing high school civics probably watched Harry Reid, et.al. craftily crafting Obamacare in back rooms and bribing fellow politicians for their votes.

Cl_harn

Thank you for trying Senator Neville. We knew the dems would defeat this – they care nothing about health care costs and they are skyrocketing with Obamacare.

Anonymous

How many readers have actually looked into what the health insurance exchange is? It is a market with regulations to guarantee access for people who have pre-existing conditions, to restrict the insurance companies from rescinding coverage after a condition is diagnosed.

The “free market” would not look so good to you, if you had to bankrupt your family to pay for treatment of one person’s condition.

Killing the bill noted in this news article is a small but positive step. Kudos to the 5 committee members who kept Amy Stephens’ law in place.

Lissmth

Amycare bill (SB10-200) says nothing about guaranteed access and nothing about companies rescinding coverage after a condition is diagnosed. The latter has, in fact, been illegal since 1997.

1)
The bill specifically provides for Colorado to share our private
health information (database created via HB10-1330) with other exchanges
and government databases (10-22-106 (2)). Why must anyone keep a
medical dossier on us?
2)
The exchange will be designed and implemented by a board we do not
elect and cannot vote out. (10-22-105) As constituted today, that board
is controlled by Democrats and the insurance industry. How much
competition from out-of-state companies will be allowed? Why do
Republicans do this?

4) If all we need is guaranteed access, a simple law could have been written. Why 5,000 pages?
The Amycare board just applied for another $1.8 million per month
(free) federal money to operate for the next ten months. Colorado’s
exchange has to be precisely in line with Obamacare or it would not get
the funding. Who’s going to pay for this government market takeover when the free money runs out?

Anonymous

Simply amazing that Republicans are sp stupid as to torpedo the Heallth Care Reform act , when it will actually do a world of good . Republicans had eight years to do something positive under Bush and just ignored the problem ( like so many problems) while health costs just keep gping up . I would bet that most all Republicana don’t know a single thing about the Health Care Act , only that it was Democratoc legislation and they have been told to oppose it. Republicans are The Party of no solutions , just complaining and bickering.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.